The Ring
by Fishy314
Summary: Mal has lost the one symbol of her and Ben's love. Can she make it through the day without him finding out?


What started as a regular morning for Mal soon turned into a disastrous one.

"Evie, where is my ring?" Mal's voice wavered as she looked at her nightstand where her phone was sitting. "Why isn't it with my phone like usual?"

"How would I know, M, it's not my ring." Evie received a glare from Mal for her snarky comment. "Just look; I'm sure it's somewhere."

Mal tore through the room, moving everything from its place looking for Ben's ring. "No no no. I can't have lost it," Mal murmured to herself. By the time she was finished, the girls' room looked like a tornado had gone through it and Mal was almost to tears. "Evie, I can't have lost it. That's Ben's ring! It means everything to me. And Ben is going to be so mad." She began looking through the mess once again.

"Mal," Evie called, but the girl ignored her. "Mal. MAL!"

"What Evie?" Mal whirled around, glaring at her friend.

"We have school, and I'm sure it's in here somewhere. You'll be able to look better later when you have a clear head. Ok?"

Mal took a deep breath, "Ok, yeah, just Evie, don't tell Ben. I don't want him to find out."

"Mal he's going to find out eventually. I mean, you'll see each other at school."

"No, we won't. I'll stay far away from him, tell him I'm busy every time he tries to catch me."

"M, I don't know…"

"Well I know E, and I don't want him to see me without it, ok?" Mal was getting irritated by now, so Evie just meekly nodded her head, knowing when to stop pushing her best friend. "Good, and do not tell Ben, or your closet will get it, got it?"

"Yup, crystal clear Mal." With that, Mal walked out the door, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

Mal knew it was going to be difficult to not see Ben all day. He had memorized her schedule, when she stopped at her locker, what routes she took to her classes. Normally she loved this because she missed Ben every second she wasn't with him, but today she wanted nothing more than to stay far away, and she knew that was going to be incredibly difficult.

Every morning, Ben and Mal would meet at her locker and he would walk her to math, but she decided to skip going to her locker and instead texted Ben that she woke up late and would see him later.

After math, she would normally wait for Ben since he passed this class on his way to History, but when the bell rang she was the first one out the door and down the hall. She wanted to spell someone when she got stuck in the huge crowd of people slowly making their way to class. Just to make matters worse, she could hear Ben talking to someone a little ways behind her. _Please don't see me. Please don't see me._

"Mal!"

Mal groaned and quickly looked around for an escape. She saw it when some girl turned into a classroom, leaving a wide open gap into freedom, and she quickly took it, ignoring Ben's calls behind her.

Once art was over, she usually rushed to history to meet Ben before he had to take off to his next class. Instead, she decided to make a surprise stop at her locker, reapply some makeup in the bathroom, and walk really slowly to class, sitting down just as the bell rang. Her phone then vibrated in the middle of class, and she saw it was a text from Ben. "You okay? I haven't seen you at all today." Mal smiled. He was always so worried about her and she just wished she could see him to stop his worries. She replied, "Sorry, got held up in an art project and had to stay a little late. I'll see you later." She hoped that was believable enough; she hated lying to Ben.

Following history was chemistry. With Ben. This was going to be her most challenging class to stay away from Ben in, but she had an idea. Not saying she liked the idea, but it was still something. She pulled out her phone and texted her last resort.

She met Audrey a few doors down from chemistry. "Audrey I need a really big favor."

"And why would I help you?" Audrey sassed.

Mal took a deep breath; she needed this. "Can you sit next to Ben in chemistry?"

Audrey's eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. "Did you guys break up?"

"No, I just-" What was she supposed to say? If she told Audrey the truth, she knew she would blab to Ben. "I just...need a break. He's been a bit too, good lately." Seriously, she couldn't come up with something better?

Apparently it was a good enough excuse for Audrey. "Ok, but I won't do it for free." How did Mal know this was coming? Mal pulled a twenty out of her wallet and handed it to Audrey.

"Happy?"

"Very," and Audrey waltzed into the classroom as the bell rang, plopping into the seat next to Ben. Mal could see the confusion on his face and how he was telling her that it was Mal's seat, but Audrey sat there and acted like he wasn't even saying anything.

Mal waited a few minutes and then creaked open the door, calling all attention to her. "Sorry I'm late, I was at my locker." She knew it was a terrible excuse and that she would get a tardy, but she didn't really care. She didn't even look over at Ben and Audrey as she sat in a spot next to Lonnie, who gave her a confused look, but didn't say anything.

Once the bell for chemistry rang, Mal was out the door in two seconds flat, and she thought she was safe until a hand clamped around her arm. Cursing under her breath, she turned to face him. "Hey Ben," she said, hiding her hand behind her back. "I really wish I could talk but I gotta go, so, Bye!" She yanked her arm away and briskly walked off.

"Wait, Mal!"

"Love you!" she called back to him, making her way to Heroes 101, her least favorite class.

Heroes 101 was just like it sounded; she had to learn about all the heroes of Auradon and all they did right and how the villains did everything bad. Mal may have chosen good, but the class was a little much for her. She was glad she had the middle lunch so that she got a breather between halves of the class; she didn't think she'd be able to handle a whole hour of it.

When lunch rolled around, she remained in class though, staying back until she was last. Ben had the same lunch as her and always had a seat for her. But, she figured, if she took really long maybe she could say she couldn't find him and ate somewhere else, which is exactly what she did. He came back with a reply asking where she was and she told him her table was super crowded and that there was no room for him. She knew she was being a terrible girlfriend, but she couldn't imagine the look on his face if he found out about the ring.

Once lunch was over, she took the really long way to her class and walked outside. She knew Ben would never think she would go this way because it would take her an extra two minutes, but, then again, that was what she was trying for.

After Heroes 101 was finally over, she took a breather. This was the one time she and Ben didn't see each other because their classes were on opposite sides of the building. As she got to the door of language arts though, she saw Ben standing in the classroom. _He must be trying to find me._ She quickly turned around and hid in a little corner and waited. She knew eventually he'd leave because, as the perfect student he was, he could never be late. So as the warning bell sounded, she watched as he walked out of the class, a sad expression on his face. She breathed a sigh of relief and made her way back into her class.

Her last class was one of her favorites: Advanced Fairies. It was a class all about fairies and magic, which made it perfect for Mal, but it was also right next to Ben's last class, Fairies for Beginners (which she laughed at him for taking, but he insisted he needed to considering his girlfriend was part fairy). Mal was worried she'd definitely see him there, but surprisingly she didn't. And she didn't see him after class either. " _He must have had a last minute meeting,"_ she thought.

She made her way back to her dorm and dropped her books when she saw him. "BEN!" she shouted, shocked. "Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, picking up her books and trying to hide her hand at the same time after closing the door.

"I haven't seen you all day, Mal. I missed you." He had increasingly gotten closer to her and was standing directly in front of her by the end. "Are you mad at me?"

"NO!" she immediately told him. "No, you didn't do anything wrong," she assured him, placing her hand on his chest.

"Then why are you avoiding me? I thought we were done with secrets." Mal could tell he was getting very upset for his voice was beginning to rise.

"Because… because.."

"Because why Mal?!"

Mal couldn't stop the tears that escaped her eyes. Once his voice has risen, she couldn't control herself. She'd never meant to hurt him, her whole purpose had been to keep him happy. She crashed into his chest, her tears soaking his shirt as his arms immediately wrapped around her. "Shhh Mal it's okay. I'm sorry I got mad. Mal everything is fine." He continued whispering into her ear until she calmed down and finally lifted her head.

"Ben?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Ilostyourring," she rushed out.

"What?"

"I lost," she choked on a sob, "I lost your ring."

"You what?"

"I'm so sorry Ben. I couldn't find it this morning and then I didn't want you to find out because I thought you would be mad at me for losing it and I just didn't know what to do." She had her face buried back in his chest, the tears silently falling.

Ben softly grabbed her chin and lifted it up to look at him, wiping her tears away as he did so. "Mal, it's just a ring. I understand it's important, but I wouldn't be mad about it. We can always get a new one. And it's not like without the ring we don't love each other, right?"

Mal hadn't thought of that. Sure it was a symbol of their love for each other, but they still were in love without it. "Yeah. I love you Ben."

He bent down to place a kiss to her lips. "I love you, too. And you understand that I will always love you, ring or not?"

"Yeah. I'll never hide something stupid like this again. I'm sorry."

"Good, because I have this." He reached into his pocket and pulled the ring out of it, placing it on her finger.

Mal gasped. "Where did you find this? I looked everywhere?"

"It was in my room. You must've left it there last night while we were studying. I was trying to give it back to you today but I didn't get that chance now did I?" He gave her a very smug face and she responded with a punch to the shoulder.

"I can't believe you had this the whole time."

"Yup; maybe you should listen to Evie about stuff like this."

"Wait, Evie? How did you know about that?"

His eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. "Evie? I didn't say Evie. I said Mevie. You should listen to Me-vie about it." Mal lifted her eyebrow at him.

"Uh huh suuuure." Evie was going to get it, but not too bad considering everything was alright. She guessed Evie had the best intentions after all.

Mal wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and placed her head on his chest, listening to his heart beneath it.

"Did I mention that I'm in love with you?" he asked her.

She laughed. "You may have mentioned it once or twice."

"Oh, well I love you."

"You're ridiculous Benny-boo." She reached up to press a kiss to his lips. "But I love you too."


End file.
